


Family Care

by StarrAngelofNarnia



Series: Lataine Whitlock [2]
Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: All Human, Asthma, Background Relationships, Corporal Punishment, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Doctor Edward, Doctor Emmett, Family Feels, Father-Daughter Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Inaccuracies, Medical Procedures, Minor CP, OC- Clarissa Lataine Whitlock, Psychiatrist Jasper, Revised Version, Uncle-Niece Relationship, Whump, improved version, medical needles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:00:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28825608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarrAngelofNarnia/pseuds/StarrAngelofNarnia
Summary: Another story with Lataine and the Cullen boys. Lataine has an asthma attack and it causes her emotions and the emotions of her father and uncles to go haywire.This is not medically accurate. I just want to low-key torture my character. That is all.Cross posted to AO3 under a different title
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Edward Cullen & Original Female Character(s), Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Emmett Cullen & Original Female Character(s), Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale, Jasper Hale & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Lataine Whitlock [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149368
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning! This chapter does include some minor corporal punishment of a pre-teen.

_Lataine POV_

I sat up in my room reading Harry Potter for the bazillionth time and I planned on staying here for as long as possible. First of all, because I was absolutely not happy with my parents, mainly my daddy, and second of all because my aunts and uncles were coming over. Now that wasn’t unusual. My parents had their brothers and sisters over all the time and we would go over to their houses just as often; it was just a part of being a close-knit family. What made it different this time is the fact that I was sick, probably with a sinus infection, as was typical for me. But no one currently seemed to know that and I wanted to keep it that way. But with both of my uncles being doctors, I had a feeling it wasn’t going to stay that way for long.

There was a knock on my open door and I looked up to see my daddy there. “Can I come in?” he asked.

I closed my book in a huff. He walked in and sat down on my bed next to me.

“You do realize that in addition to knowing you as your father, I have the medical training to see that you are ill, right?” he teased. I glared at him. Or at least I attempted to. He chuckled. “I know you are mad at me. And I know why you’re mad at me. But contrary to popular belief, I didn’t invite my sister and Alice’s brother over just to get you to admit you’re sick,” he said, pretty much pinpointing exactly what I was thinking.

“How do you always know what I’m thinking? It’s like you read my mind and my emotions or something. It’s actually a bit annoying.”

He smiled. “It’s because you are my daughter. You can’t hide anything from me or from your mother. We have a parent’s instinct,” he said ruffling my hair.

“So I can pretend like I’m feeling fine and you won’t tell Uncle Edward or Uncle Emmett?” I asked hopefully.

He chuckled. “Nice try, my dear. But I know you’re sick and they will too as soon as they see you. And I want one of them to check you over while they are here.”

“You are so on my bad list right now,” I said, picking up my book again.

“I figure it’s better than me calling the shots, darlin’. Especially if that becomes literal.” I shook my head no. Needles were not part of the deal. But of course, I was sure they were inevitable. He shrugged and gave me a look that all but said _I told you so_. “You can be angry all you want but it’s not gonna change anythin’,” he sighed, squeezing my knee. “You’re sick, you need to see a doctor. So, I don’t care what list of yours I’m on, as long as I figure out why you’re not getting better.” He stood up and leant over to kiss my head. “I won’t make you come down, but I promise I’ll send someone up as soon as they get here. We’re expecting guests in about 15 minutes,” he explained as he walked out the door.

_Edward POV_

Bella, Nessie, and I arrived at my sister’s house at about a quarter after one. Rosalie and Emmett hadn’t gotten there yet.

Once in the house and past greetings with Jasper and Alice, the girls all took off to see some project in Alice’s office, leaving Jasper and I alone in the living room. We went to sit down on the couch in front of the television, where a football game was currently on. It was then that I realized I hadn’t seen Lataine yet.

“Where’s Lataine?” I asked Jasper.

“She’s up in her room. She wanted to stay there as long as she could.” He chuckled then, as if there was something I was missing, which I’m guessing there was.

That was unusual for Lataine. She was usually always downstairs and ready for us to get here when our families came over. Despite being a year apart in age, my niece and my daughter were like sisters, so they loved to spend time with each other when we had family gatherings. However, the one reason she would never be eager to see myself or Emmett was illness. If she was sick, her current absence would make sense. We were not Lataine’s favorite people when she was not feeling well. She had a known fear of doctors and needles, both of which pertained to Emmett and me, as I was an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner, currently working in her high school’s clinic, and Emmett was her pediatrician.

“Mind if I go up and chat with her?” I asked, already standing from the couch.

“I expected nothing less,” he replied with a smirk. “I can send up your co-conspirator if you’d like, once he gets here. Otherwise, call me if you need me.” He hadn’t openly said why she was hiding, but it seemed, by his reactions, my conclusion was correct.

I headed up the stairs and saw that the door to her room was open. I knocked briefly. “You know, playing hide and seek isn’t really fun if other people don’t know you are playing it,” I said, walking in and sitting down on the floor next to her bed. She flipped over on her stomach and turned to face me.

“It is if you’re hiding from a doctor who wants to give you a shot,” she said matter-of-factly. Oh yeah, she was definitely sick. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be worrying about me giving her shots.

“And what makes you think I want to give you a shot?” I asked, feigning innocence. She glared at me.

“Because you and Em are predictable. You’ve conditioned me to expect y’all to wield sharp pointy objects under certain conditions.” I laughed. Clearly, Jasper the psychologist talked about his field at home.

I put my hands up as if in surrender. “I don’t have any needles on me. Promise.”

She folded her arms in front of her and rested her head on them with a sigh. “I know you’ll give me one though. And if you don’t, Emmett will.” She coughed then, and it took her a minute to catch her breath. It definitely didn’t sound good.

I stood up and sat next to her on the bed, rubbing her back. “You don’t know that for sure, Lataine,” I said. She looked up at me, giving me her you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look. She had been through this many times before and rarely got out without getting a shot. It was just her luck.

Of course, that was also just Emmett’s way of running his clinic, so it wasn’t like she was the only one who had to deal with it. In Emmett’s mind, why prescribe pills, risk the child forgetting to take it or the parent neglecting to give it, and then risk the child having a relapse, when he could just give an injection during the appointment and it’s done then and there. He rarely prescribed pills for illness or injury; only families he knew well enough, occasionally had that luxury. Lataine, and to a lesser extent, Nessie, weren’t the exception. It just so happened that her medical history required them more often. And I couldn’t do something different for her when I wasn’t her doctor.

“Will you please let me go get my bag from the car and do a quick check up?” I asked her. She shook her head no against her arm. “Please?” She shook her head again. “Please?” I stood up from the bed as she shook her head again. “Please? Please? Please? Please?” I continued pestering while backing up towards her doorway. Wow, I was being just as annoying as Emmett would have been.

She sighed. “Fine.” I could tell she wasn’t happy and that made me sort of sad because I didn’t want her mad at me. But I also hated seeing her sick, especially when I could do something about it.

“I’ll be right back. And just so you know, I would have done it anyway.”

I left her room and headed down the stairs and out to the car. As I grabbed my bag from the backseat of the vehicle and relocked it, Emmett, Rose, and the twins pulled into the driveway.

“Visiting a patient?” Emmett asked as he climbed out of the car.

“Yep,” I said. “I may need backup though.” He saluted as I went back in.

I walked back into the house and back up the stairs. “Dr. Edward is at your service,” I announced, sitting my bag on the bedside table. “Now besides the fact that you sound like you are going to cough up a lung, is there anything else wrong? And don’t lie because I’ll find out.”

“My chest hurts. It’s just asthma stuff like normal,” she pouted. I raised an eyebrow. “It started with a cold. It just hasn’t gone away,” she finally added.

I pulled my stethoscope out of my bag and put the earpieces in my ears before grabbing her hands and helping her sit up. “I hate when you go all doctor on me,” she pouted as she adjusted her position on the bed and I sat down next to her. “I’d rather you just be my uncle. You and Emmett both.”

“Sorry, but part of my job as an uncle is worrying about you when something is wrong,” I said, moving the round disk of the stethoscope around her chest briefly. “And if I recall, Emmett tried to pass you off to his associate for that reason and you wouldn’t have it.” I moved it around to her back and started to speak but she cut me off.

“I know, I know, deep breaths,” she said. After a minute I took the stethoscope out of my ears.

“Lataine, you really don’t sound good,” I reported with a sigh.

“I thought you expected that much,” she said laying back frustrated.

I quickly looked in her eyes, ears, nose and throat. “You’re worse than what I was expecting. If you would have told someone before you could have gotten away with just taking a pill and it probably would have cleared up.” Although Em didn’t like to prescribe pills, every once in a while, he would do it for Lataine since she was so scared. But at this point, it was better off with a direct dose and I was pretty sure more than one would be needed. “Now I’m going to have to give you the shots because the pills won’t cover it. You’re cold has turned into a sinus infection and it’s impacting your lungs,” I said standing up from the bed and rummaging around in my bag for a hypodermic needle and the medicine I kept specifically for her.

“Wait, why was that plural?” she asked, obvious panic in her voice. She was absolutely not going to be happy with me or Emmett. Or Jasper for that matter.

“You’re gonna need about 5 doses of steroid shots: One today and one the next four days. I’ll also give you a vitamin injection to boost your immune system while you fight it.”

“So, are you gonna give them all to me?” she asked, her tone raising in pitch.

“No, I’ll give you the first one and the supplement since I’m the one conveniently diagnosing you. For the next 3 days your dad can monitor your breathing and give you the shots. The last one you’ll probably need to get from Emmett.”

“Ugh!” she said throwing herself face first into her pillows. I wasn’t sure if she was really angry or if she was masking fear with anger. I sighed, laying the syringe on the bedside table.

“Lataine,” I said softly, sitting down on the bed next to her. “Listen to me sweetheart,” I said, rubbing her back.

“I don’t wanna listen.”

Jasper came in at that point and stood against the wall, letting me handle the problem on my own. She hadn’t realized that he had come in yet. “Sweetheart, I know you hate this, and I hate doing this to you. But I don’t have a choice. I do not want to be taking care of you in the hospital. And trust me, you would not like the hospital. Almost everything there involves needles.”

She still refused to listen or to move from her position on the bed. Jasper quietly approached the foot of the bed. As an uncle I felt the need to be more patient, but as her dad, I guess his patience was running thin. “Lataine,” he started softly, but slightly stern. “You chose not to tell me you were not feeling well. You have to be more responsible for your asthma. I can’t do it for you.”

“I don’t want you doing it for me. I don’t want it at all!” she yelled back.

He exchanged a look with me. It was good that Jasper was graced with extra patience. “I’m your parent,” he started, completely stern now. “Therefore, it’s my job to take care of you until you turn 18 or you divorce yourself from me. I can’t take your asthma away from you, so you have got to learn to live with it. Which means you can do what is needed to prevent getting sick, or you can face the natural consequences of a flare up getting out of hand.” In any other situation, I would have found it humorous that he was talking to Lataine like he would talk to one of his teenage patients but now the humor was gone. She knew that when Jasper spoke in that tone, nothing was up for debate, and she let it go.

Emmett came in to check on his ‘favorite little patient.’ “Geez, let’s just make it a party,” Lataine scoffed, screaming into her pillow. Against what my judgement would have been, Jasper popped her on the butt twice. Hard. But admittedly, she dropped the attitude quickly. He turned back to me, folding his arms. I quickly and quietly filled them in on what I had decided, making sure Lataine couldn’t hear me. I told Jasper where he was to give her the shot, I made sure he had a stethoscope and told him how often to check her breathing. After that he left, deciding he didn’t want to make his daughter’s current anger any worse. It would be his responsibility later this week, but not today.

She sat up reluctantly and I could tell she had been crying. Emmett sat on the bed and helped her to lie down. I had decided to give her both injections in the butt since the steroid shot had to be given there. “C’mon you can do this girlie,” Emmett said, pulling her jeans down slightly and then grabbing her hand. “Just squeeze my hand as tight as you can and it’ll help, I promise.”

I wiped the first injection site with an alcohol wipe. Emmett rubbed circles into her hand. I picked up the syringe off the table. “Relax, Lataine. You’re going to make it worse.”

“Think of happy things like rainbows and ponies and wonder pets,” Emmett said. She giggled and visibly relaxed. If he knew what the wonder pets were, he spent way too much time at work. “On 3. 1, 2, 3,” and I had the needle in her skin, the medicine injected and the needle back out as fast as I could. She tensed up. I wiped up the little bit of blood and covered it with a bandaid. “One more,” I whispered, and then I repeated the process with the supplement. It took a bit more time to give but as soon as I had finished, I removed the needle. “Alright, all done babe,” I whispered softly.

“Yeah, but that was only the first two. I have four more,” she whimpered as she readjusted her clothing and sat up, wiping tears from her eyes.

“You don’t have to worry about those until later. Nessie is waiting for you,” I said.

Even though she was still not too happy with the male members of her family, she stood up and ran down the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

_Lataine POV_

I was waiting for Jas to get home from work, feeling anxious enough I had to tell myself not to throw up. I usually appreciated his arrival home from work, but today I didn’t want him to get here, cause as soon as he did that would mean it was time for my shot. But at the same time, I wished he were already here so I could just have the stupid thing over with. And it wasn’t like he didn’t know what he was doing; he had patients on medications that were given intramuscularly, so he knew perfectly well how to give an injection, but he had never had to give me one before. It was bad enough I ended up playing patient with Emmett and Edward on so many various occasions but now daddy was playing doctor which made it even worse. Even Grandpa Carlisle played doctor on occasion. Sometimes, it really sucked being in a family where all the men were in a career in the medical field. I just wanted to be coddled and sympathized over.

I heard the door open downstairs and I panicked. I knew he would get angry if I tried to hide and then I would be in big trouble. A shot and a spanking did not sound fun at the same time, especially with me sick. Nerves were one thing, but I knew if I tried to hide from him when I knew what to anticipate, I would be in trouble. Thinking fast, I quickly lied down and pulled my covers up over my shoulders and pretended to be asleep. I hoped that if he thought I was sleeping, I could put it off for a little while longer.

Settling my breathing was a bit hard, so I held my breath and slowly let it out, trying to make it sound slower than it was. My door opened with a click and I heard footsteps enter my bedroom. I squinted one open, trying to see; I couldn’t see that he had the syringe, but I saw he had his stethoscope around his neck just like Uncle Emmett wore his at his clinic. I closed my eye before he noticed. He sat down on the bed and rubbed my back. “Clarissa, my dear, I know you’re awake, you’re not getting out of this.”

How the heck did he know I was awake? “How do you know?” I whispered without moving.

“If you were asleep, your breathing would be steady. I can tell from your breathing that you’ve probably been freaking out already for the past 2 hours. And you blew your cover because sleeping people typically don’t converse with others. And you my darlin’ are not a sleep talker.”

I flipped over and threw the covers off. “You are way too smart,” I grumped. He laughed.

“Sorry. I was raised well.” Instead of putting his stethoscope to use, he offered me his hand. “C’mon Clarissa, let’s go to my office.”

I gave him a funny look. “Why?”

Now he squatted down so he was eye level with me. “I am well aware that medical situations are a major source of anxiety for you and allowing me to take care of those uncomfortable procedures is going to be a test of your trust in me. Your room will be a place of solace and safety. And while I cannot promise the same thing for your uncles, I will never examine you or treat you in your room.” He offered me a pinky. “And I’ll shake on it.”

I could feel the corners of my lips creeping up as I wrapped my own pinky around his. “Quite frankly, the only reason I make no promises for Em and Ed are because I don’t trust either of them in my office,” he smirked, standing up and steadying himself before pulling me up by the hand as well. Nervously, I followed him down the stairs to his office, my hand still tightly wrapped around his.

Once in his office, he gestured for me to sit on the chaise as he closed the door behind him and came to join me. He pulled the stethoscope from around his neck and put the earpieces in his ears. “Alright, I’ll listen to ya first, darlin’,” he explained softly, placing a hand on my back and the diaphragm of the instrument on my chest. Though this wasn’t on the list of doctoring he typically did, he handled the instrument as if it were one he used every day. He listened to my heart first, just as Emmett or Edward would have, even though that wasn’t the primary area of concern. But I decided right then that even though he was pretty much the perfect psychiatrist and counselor, he would have made a great doctor. He was gentle, and somehow, I felt safe. “Focus on taking some deep breaths for me,” he requested, as he moved the stethoscope to two spots higher up on my chest before moving around to my back and underneath my night shirt. As he continued to listen, he carefully gathered up my hair and let it fall over one shoulder. With each breath in and out, the stethoscope was placed in another position on my back before he gently nudged my right arm up so he could listen from the side to the lung that had been described as ‘the crudiest’. After a couple of minutes, he put the stethoscope back around his neck.

Next, he offered me a very familiar plastic measuring device with a mouthpiece on the end. “Do two measurements on your peak flow, please.” I did as requested, and I knew the numbers were still too low.

After putting my peak flow meter away, he sat back down next to me, and took my hands in his, squeezing gently. “I know you don’t want to do this. I wish I didn’t have to do this to you, but please don’t try to fight me. I know how to restrain you if you do, and I absolutely don’t want to do that, but I will if the need arises,” he warned. I had learned at a young age that when Jasper warns you, he means it. If I had had any thoughts to fight him, they had disappeared in an instant with his threat. I nodded my agreement. “Would you prefer to lay on the couch by yourself or would you rather lay across my lap? Your choice.”

I hugged him tightly. “I want to stay with you,” I whispered, looking up into his face.

He smiled softly. “Alright love, we can do that. Let’s go ahead and get you comfortable.” I lowered myself onto my stomach, across daddy’s lap and he gently tugged my jeans down to my thighs. He wiped down the area with an alcohol wipe. “Relax love,” he said softly, gently massaging near where he would be giving me the shot. “Try not to tense up so much. Deep breaths.” I didn’t know how he planned on doing this which worried me. And I didn’t even know where he had gotten the injection syringe from because I hadn’t seen him with it. With Uncle Emmett and Uncle Edward, as much as I hated it when they gave me shots, I knew what to expect. Uncle Edward would count to three and insert the needle on 3, while Uncle Emmett would count down from 3 after asking me if I was ready. But because of his training in psychology and behavior, Jasper always had a unique way of doing things, I was convinced he did nothing normal, and I suspected giving shots would be no different.

“Take in a deep breath while I count to eight.” He started counting up from 1 until he got to 8. “Hold it for a few seconds, and as I start to count back down to one, slowly let it out.” I didn’t have to hold my breath for long before he started again. “Good girl, I want you to breath the same way, one more time. Breath in up to 8, hold it, and let it back out back to 1.”

I had never paid so much attention to breathing before but now, that’s exactly what I was doing. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,” he paused the counting, and I held my breath for a few seconds. “8, 7,” and without any acknowledgement of what he was doing, I felt a sharp pinch, but was hardly able to focus on it as the counting continued. “6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” By the time he got to one, the needle from the injection had already been removed and he was massaging the injection site with a small piece of gauze. A second or so later, he was sealing the spot with a bandage and replacing my clothing.

I could feel tears pricking my eyes from both the pain of the stupid shot but admittedly, it wasn’t as terrible as I had anticipated it being. I had to admit, by giving me something to focus on, he had effectively removed my attention from the pain of the needle. I had still felt it, and it still hadn’t been pleasant, but it had been much more manageable. As much as I hated that he was giving me shots, his strategy was effective. It actually hurt less than the ones I had gotten the day before from a doctor more experienced with giving injections. I hadn’t even cried!

I was still a bit shaky as Jasper steadied me to crawl off his lap and back to sitting. “We’re all done, darlin’” he said, pulling me into a hug and rubbing my back. “You did well.”

_Jasper POV_

I was curious to see what method Clarissa would try today to put off her shots. I never knew what to expect from my thirteen-year-old daughter. Yesterday when I had gotten home, I had found her in the bathroom saying that she was getting ready to take a shower. It didn’t work. Mainly because the shadow on the floor indicated she was simply sitting on the floor. Which, she was. With Goblet of Fire in hand. Needless to say, she got the shot when I told her I was going to give it to her. And she did not like my method of giving shots either, I could tell. She didn’t like the fact that I gave her the shot with a bit of unpredictability. I wasn’t going to count down like her uncles did. I had all the time in the world once I got home so I would only do the stick once she was physically ready. I had made her do the breathing cycle four times yesterday before she had calmed enough for me to actually inject.

I walked into the house through the garage, left my shoes under the bench, and hung my coat up on the rack, before heading into the master bedroom. Everything I would need was currently stored in the bathroom medicine cabinet. We always kept a box of syringes and a box of alcohol prep pads on hand, though usually they were for Alice, not Clarissa. I pulled a clean syringe and the bottle of medicine Edward had given me out of the cabinet and set to preparing it. I went through the procedure of properly measuring out the dose before carefully recapping it and hiding it in my pocket. If it was out of sight, there was less to be anxious about. Everything else I would need, besides my daughter, was already up in my office.

I headed up the stairs to Clarissa’s bedroom and on the way up, I heard her talking animatedly, as if she were on the phone. Odd. None of the landline phones had been in use just seconds ago when I had been downstairs. So, she was either on her cell, or she was faking it to put off the shot. Judging on previous experiences, I figured the latter was the most likely of the two. Her door was wide opened, so I went ahead and walked in to see her talking into the phone that belonged downstairs in the living room. Common sense was apparently thrown out the window when looking for an excuse to delay the inevitable.

“Clarissa Lataine,” I spoke firmly. Use of her full name would get her attention. I wasn’t angry or even upset, but I also wasn’t going to play the game. “None of the phones are in use. I know you’re not really on the phone.”

She sighed and tossed the phone on the floor, so it landed on the carpet with a soft thud. “Is there anything I can do to fool you?”

I smiled slightly. “Try using some common sense and thinking through your attempts first, might help. But by all means, you can keep trying.”

I offered her my hand to pull her up to standing so we could make our way downstairs to my office. “Are we going to make this easy today?” I asked, trying to keep my tone light.

“As easy as I can make it. I hate this. It’s worse when you give me a shot than when Uncle Emmett or Uncle Edward does.”

“And why is that?”

She was silent for a moment, thinking. I gestured her in through the open door and she took a seat on the couch, waiting nervously. “I think because you are supposed to be my daddy, not my doctor. And normally, you’re the one that comforts me when I get sick or get shots, but you can’t now because you’re the one giving them. It’s just…weird. Like, you’re a different person.”

The therapist in me considered how to respond. “Doing this doesn’t make me your doctor though. I’m still your father. Do you see Emmett and Edward the same way?”

She looked into my face. “I don’t know, it’s different. Maybe because I’m used to them being doctors? It’s just part of my relationship with them. They are my uncles, but Emmett especially is also my doctor and that’s just how it’s always been. And at this point, I don’t think I’d change it for the world. But with you…” she paused.

“You can be honest with me darlin’,” I encouraged. I never wanted her to feel like she didn’t feel safe around me or that she had to hide a part of herself.

She took a deep breath, a little bit shaky. “I know that you have the same medical degree as Emmett, just with additional training to specialize. So, for all intents and purposes you _are_ a medical doctor. But I don’t typically see that side of you. So, seeing you in that role, when I’m the patient…”

“It feels uncomfortable for you,” I finished.

She nodded. “You’re the one I’m supposed to complain to about how much I hate it when I have to get shots from my uncles. I can’t complain to you about you. I just want you to be my dad.”

Past the crux of the matter, I donned my stethoscope to begin the brief exam. Chuckling, I replied, “Yeah you could complain to me about me. As I just encouraged you to do. I may be a doctor on paper, but it isn’t the job I decided to do. _My_ job is listening to the thoughts going on in someone’s head, not listening to someone’s lungs, and definitely not giving steroid injections. This really is more of my responsibility of being your parent.” I tapped her gently on the chin before placing the diaphragm on her chest. I took my time, listening to each auscultation point of her lungs for a full breath or more and thankfully, she sounded so much better than she had when I first listened to her even 2 days ago. The steroid had done its job and it seemed like the decongestants had made a difference too.

Once I had taken the stethoscope out of my ears, she continued the conversation where it had left off. “Well then, I don’t like your parental responsibilities.”

I laughed as I put the stethoscope back around my neck. “Unfortunately for you, my dear, as my daughter, parental responsibilities get taken care of above all else. And for the record, they aren’t always fun for me either. Like disciplining you. Or building a roller coaster out of a plastic tube and dowels at 2 in the morning for science class.” She giggled, as I handed her the peak flow meter. Thankfully, she was back in the green zone.

Expecting today to go the same as the previous two days, I sat down on the couch next to her. “This sucks,” she pouted, not quite ready to follow through. “This is like punishment for not just admitting I was sick, like you want me to learn to do.”

I smiled sympathetically. “Natural consequences, darlin’. You don’t take care of yourself and you’re not proactive in getting help, so the consequence is getting sick and needing more intensive treatment. And hopefully you’ve learned from this experience, so we don’t have to end up back here again. Because the injections are working. I don’t know if that fact makes the shots easier to take though.”

“No, not really. It doesn’t change the fact that my muscles are going to hurt for the next month and a half,” she pouted, finally draping herself across my lap. Her panic mode had settled in now, evidenced by her jumpiness and the rhythmic kicking of her feet.

I placed a hand on her calves. “Stop, Clarissa, that’s going to make it worse. Your job is to focus on breathing. Can you count? Or should I count for you?”

“You count,” she whispered, cuddling up to the throw pillow.

I pulled the syringe out of my pocket and sat it for the moment on her back. I tugged her jeans down just below where I would give the shot and wiped the skin with an alcohol wipe. The injection site was the dorsogluteal muscle that was farthest away from me, so I would be reaching across her back instead of cramping up my arm to hit the muscle closest to me. Now that I was ready, I listened to her breathing to see where she was and started counting on the next inhale. This time, I was able to get the stick done on her first exhale rather than drawing it out. As soon as the needle penetrated the muscle, her breath hitched and then she started crying. Whether from pain or from nerves, I wasn’t really sure, but either way, I was convinced that this was the hardest thing I would ever do as a father. Like she had stated, it just wasn’t a role I had to be in with her. And I hated hurting her, even if this pain was something that would help her in the long run. But I had to be strong, because if I let her know how difficult it was, it would be even harder for both of us. When the syringe was finally empty, I dropped it into the sharps container sitting on the table off to the side of the couch, put the Band-Aid on and pulled her into my lap to let her cry it out. One more day of this. Only one more day of this torture.


	3. Chapter 3

_Emmett POV_

I walked down the hall to the exam room that Lataine had been assigned. I knew she wanted to get through this quickly and I wanted to get her through it quickly. She’d already been through five shots and today was her last one. I was worried about how she was going to handle this. We had pushed her limits very far and I was worried they were to the point of cracking. And now I was going to be pushing them even farther.

I knocked on the door before walking in. Jasper was sitting in a chair off to the side and Lataine was lying on the exam table on her stomach, kicking her feet back and forth. It was a nervous habit of hers.

“You’re almost done. Today is your last one,” I explained as I washed my hands to prepare for the exam. “How are you feeling today?” Tossing my paper towel in the trash can, I approached the exam table and offered her a hand to help her sit up.

“I want this over with and I don’t ever want to go through it again,” she said, not even answering the question. She might have been mad at me too. It was hard to tell.

“I promise, I don’t want you to have to go through it again,” I said, pulling my stethoscope from around my neck. I listened only briefly to her heart but spent a few minutes listening to her lungs from every possible angle.

“You sound healthy Lataine. That means the shots worked. Unlike the first night when you sounded like crap.” I normally wouldn’t talk to a patient like that, but Lataine was my niece so the situation was different. I checked her chart on the computer. Her vitals looked good, so I was ready to move on to the last shot.

I submitted the order on the computer before I hit the red button on the panel on the wall near the door, to page the nurse’s station. Normally, for a visit like this one, I wouldn’t even see the patient; for anyone besides my niece the appointment would have been scheduled with my nurse who would have carried out the brief exam and given the shots. But for Lataine, it was different. I didn’t just call the shots, I administered them too. Whether that made things better or worse, I wasn’t entirely sure, but she hadn’t ever wanted to try it any other way. “Are you ready for this?” I asked her, leaning against my desk as I waited.

“Absolutely not. But I don’t really have a choice in the matter, do I?” she answered. Her eyes were already glossed over with yet-to-be-shed tears. And I felt horrible about it. But this was for her own well-being. I just had to keep the situation light. Another knock on the door told me the nurse was ready, so I opened the door, took the tray from her and then turned back to Lataine. As I got closer to her, Jasper stood up and approached the examining table to stand next to her.

I sat the basket down on the end of the table near her feet so she couldn’t see what was in it. “One dose of Super Soldier serum coming up, Captain America,” I teased as I tugged down her jeans and sterilized the site. “You ready? 3, 2, 1, ouch!” The needle was in, syringe drained, and the entire shot finished quickly and once I had bandaged it, she started to sit up. As she did, she managed a glance at the basket and noticed for the first time that there was still a syringe in it. Not only was I giving her the steroid injection, but I had also had a second vitamin shot prepared. It would be the most efficient way to be sure that her symptoms didn’t return once daily monitoring ceased. She scooted back on the table into the corner, trying to get away from me and Jasper. “No! I don’t want it! I don’t need it!” she cried, shaking her head furiously.

“Lataine, love, it’ll be quick, but we have to do it. I don’t need you getting sick again within the next few days once treatment stops.”

I tried to move her forward gently, but she wouldn’t budge. This was not looking good. “Clarissa please,” Jasper spoke in a calm but stern voice. “You’ve done so well up to this point. This is the last hurdle you need to cooperate for, darlin’.”

She still refused to move from the center of the table. He audibly sighed next to me. “Clarissa Lataine, if you can’t cooperate for Emmett, I will have to help,” he warned. I had a feeling I knew what he was thinking, and as much as I didn’t like it, I knew it was necessary, so I stepped out of his way, giving him room to move. He pushed himself up on to the exam table and pulled her into a tight hug before draping her over his lap, pinning her hands to the small of her back. Her legs were still free to move but I could make do with that. She tried to squirm, but over his lap, she was quite off balance and couldn’t roll over or get up. Jasper had his daughter effectively pinned. She started crying, and Jasper winced.

I cleaned the second injection site, also on her bottom and picked up the syringe. She tried to kick me, but I caught her ankles easily. I didn’t exactly want to use my martial arts and wrestling skills against her, but I had to keep myself safe too. Her muscles were incredibly tense. “Lataine, loosen up babe. It’ll hurt more if you don’t.”

“Remember how to breathe darlin’,” Jasper coached. “In for 8, hold it for 8, and out for 8.” Her hand gripped his tighter, but I could see her focusing as Jasper began rhythmically counting 1 to 8 over again. Her muscles began visibly relaxing. I watched Jasper and as he began another eight count, he nodded at me to go. With a quick poke, the entire procedure was done before he’d even gotten back up to 8. As soon as the needle was out and I had put on a bandaid, Jasper released his restraint on her. I felt terrible. I had never had to have her held down before.

She pulled herself up from Jasper’s lap as quickly as she could and backed away again. I wasn’t sure she wanted my comfort right now, but since the medical supplies were all cleaned up, I put my arms out, offering a hug. To my grateful surprise, she flung herself toward me, gripping tightly around my torso, head tucked into my chest as she sobbed. “Shh. You’re all done. Just let it all out. I promise we won’t let that happen again.”

_Lataine POV_

As soon as I got home at about noon, I crashed. I woke up at about four-thirty to find Jasper standing in my bedroom. “I was just coming to check on you,” he commented, as I rolled over. I was so sore; I didn’t really want to move. So, I ended up staying on my stomach. He walked over to me and sat down next to me, leaning against the back of my bed.

“I’m mad at you,” I said softly, watching his face. This had been the worst. All of it. Having to have so many needle pricks. Having to let Jas give some of them to me. Getting extras on the first and last day. Being essentially restrained. All of it was awful. And mad wasn’t necessarily the right word, but I wasn’t sure what was.

“I figured you would be,” he said, his face pensive as he began tracing his fingers up and down my arm. “Because of the job I do, I have extensive restraint training. And part of such trainings is learning how to de-escalate a situation and only using restraint as a last resort.” He paused, pulling gently on my chin so I met his gaze. “Putting you over my lap today was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make. But you were fightin’ and you weren’t givin’ in. And though it wasn’t quite restraining, and I did attempt to de-escalate once I had you with me, I’ve still been questionin’ if I did the right thing ever since.” His southern accent leaked into his words. It was funny how sometimes you could hear his southern roots in his speech but other times, you would never know it was there. It did seem to leak through most prominently when he was emotional. So, what he was expressing to me, I knew was sincere.

“But why? Why did there have to be an extra?” I pouted. Hadn’t what I gone through all week been enough?

“Darlin’ I don’t want to have to go through an ordeal like this again anytime soon. And both of your uncles and your grandfather expressed concerns that you could have a relapse.” He shifted his body on to one elbow, so he was now level with me. “I simply took their better experienced advice and went along with it. As you’ve said before, this isn’t my area of expertise.”

I shifted my own body to lay beside him, resting my head in the crook of his elbow. I sighed but didn’t say anything for a moment. “Are you mad at me?” I asked, looking up to see his face.

His face wrinkled. “What reason do I have for being mad at you?”

“Because I tried to fight even though I knew it wouldn’t work. I made things more difficult and kinda acted like a brat.”

He smiled at me. “Darlin’, I’m not angry at you for what happened today. We asked a lot from you. We asked you to trust me to give you the shots when you barely trust Emmett or Edward, we asked you to get one every day, and then we ended up giving you one extra today that you weren’t expecting. That wasn’t a tantrum for the sake of expressing anger, that was a meltdown as a result of anxiety and overstimulation. I am definitely not mad at you for that. In fact, I’m proud of you for doing as well as you did.

“That being said, I am disappointed that you won’t just admit to me and your mom that you are not feeling well. You have to be more responsible. It’s your asthma, I don’t know how you are feeling. And by the time your symptoms are visibly noticeable to me, it’s escalated too far out of your control. I know in a few years you’re going to be ready to be on your own and I’m so scared of how you’re going to handle that. Right now, I can still make the decisions for you when you’re in a rough patch, but one day, I won’t be able to. And I fear you’ll respond out of emotion rather than doing what is logically best for you.” He paused. “I realize you are scared my love, but you have to know that Edward, Emmett, and even Carlisle would never do anything to hurt you.”

“They did this week. And you did too.”

He sighed. “Yes, we did. But darlin’ you have to understand there is a difference between someone really hurting you and someone inflicting a little bit of discomfort that will benefit you in the long term. If anyone ever hurts you and you can’t justify how it helps, then I want to hear about it. Because it shouldn’t happen. But something like shots, every needle prick that caused you pain this week has improved your condition and helped you to heal.”

I sighed. “I hate asthma. I hate it when everyone feels the need to take care of me. And I hate it when you tell them something’s wrong. I don’t want there to be anything wrong but there always is. And I hate it when everyone always fusses over me when I get sick.”

“Darlin’, I know you hate it. I wish there was something I could do about it, but I can’t. The best I can do is get you the help when you need it and use my medical knowledge to intervene early. We only worry about you because we care about you. That is the only reason I go against your wishes and tell one of your uncles that something is wrong. I want you to be healthy as often as possible. And you can’t possibly imagine how difficult it is as a parent, and arguably as an uncle, to provide medical care for your child. But we do it when we have to.

“As far as the fussing goes, all of you kids get fussed on. It’s just for different reasons. I’m sure if you asked, Renessme could reference plenty of times Edward has acted like a helicopter parent and hovered too often,” he said with a smile.

I smiled too. It was good to know I had a family who cared. I knew that not all people my age were so lucky. I had a thought that was continuing to nag at me though, so I summoned the courage to ask, “Am I in trouble for trying to hide my symptoms from you?”

He sat back, considering the question. “I’ll ask you this first. Do _you_ think you should be in trouble? Honestly.”

Now it was my turn to consider. Last Sunday, when everyone had come over and Uncle Edward had first diagnosed me, I had thrown a fit. For that, I had definitely been in trouble. That had been enough to push daddy to spank me a bit. And it hadn’t even hurt that bad. But it had gotten my attention. And it told me better than words could have that I was making a poor choice. But other than that initial treatment, I hadn’t acted out, even if it was tempting. And having had the shots still felt like it had been punishment on its own.

Finally, I formulated my musings into a verbal answer. “I think I was in trouble Sunday. But I don’t think I should be now. Because, until today, I did try to be good.”

The corner of his mouth pulled up in a small grin. “I agree. I think the natural consequences of the situation you got yourself in was enough this time. But Lataine?” He straightened up and his smile disappeared. He was being serious now. “If we end up repeating this ordeal, there will be additional consequences. Understand? You need to take care of yourself.”

I snuggled against his chest as I considered his words. I wasn’t eager to repeat any of what I had already been through. So, I most certainly wasn’t willing to add to that the consequence I knew was implied. Because by stubbornness alone, I had gotten myself in a pretty serious situation. And I guess in the long run, treatments were a lot less terrible than shots.

I wanted to stay mad, especially after the warning that had just been issued. But I found that I couldn’t. He was right, after all, and I believed he was only doing everything in his power to take care of me. I had come to an impasse this week, but hopefully I had overcome the hurdle and wouldn’t need to find out what consequences Jasper had in mind. “I’m not mad at you anymore daddy. I can’t stay mad at you” I admitted.

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear I don’t need to buy back your love. I guess that means I don’t need to rent the Goblet of Fire DVD?” he teased, rubbing my back.

“No! You do still need to rent it! I can’t start Order of the Phoenix until I watch the fourth movie!”

He smiled at my reaction. “Alright, I guess we can rent it. Are you sure you don’t want to watch The Civil War by Ken Burns?” I glared at him. “Alright, kiddo. Ready to venture out of bed?” 

I eased myself off the bed and onto my feet, wincing as my muscles moved. I was so achy. “Maybe you can sit on an ice pack,” he teased, already at the door. “And Lataine?” he turned back to face me.

“Yeah?”

“I love you, princess”

I smiled “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos + Comments = Love


End file.
